Department of Materials Science
Scintillator materials emit pulses of light when exposed to ionising radiation or high-energy charged particles. Today, brighter fast scintillators are needed for advanced applications to acquire data with high signal-to-noise ratio in short time windows, such as in time-of-flight positron emission tomography (ToF-PET) imaging for cancer.
Silicene, a two-dimensional form of silicon, has attracted significant interest for its potential in advanced technologies. Like graphene, it has a unique structure that allows electrons to move in interesting ways, making it highly compatible with existing semiconductor technologies. However, despite progress in creating and working with silicene, challenges remain—especially in finding suitable surfaces (substrates) to support its structure.
Electrochemistry combined with microbial life in the so called microbial bioelectrochemical systems can certainly being a power tool for degrading organics compounds in contaminated soils and transforming various pollutants into harmless compounds. In fact, the microbial degradation of pollutants can be enhanced when combined with electrochemical methods. The application of external potentials can certainly enhance the degradation shortening the operational time.
Our group is dedicated to the modelling and design of innovative quantum materials that exhibit promising functionalities (i.e. magnetism, ferroelectricity, multiferroicity, coupled spin/charge/orbital/lattice degrees of freedom), of interest for next-generation low-power spintronic devices.
At the heart of our research lies the use of first-principles simulations within density functional theory, enabling us to delve deeply into the structural, electronic, ferroelectric and magnetic properties of these materials. Complementing these ab-initio investigations, we frequently employ model Hamiltonian approaches and rigorous symmetry analysis to enrich and broaden our understanding.
Our main current focus is modelling two-dimensional magnets (i.e. NiI2, CrI3, CrGeTe3), atomically-thin layers that exhibit long-range magnetism and spin-orbit-induced phenomena. Another key area of interest lies in oxide-based perovskites, including manganites, particularly those characterized by a strong coupling between spin and dipolar degrees of freedom, leading to phenomena such as multiferroicity and magnetoelectricity.
We study the microscopic origin of complex spin textures (i.e. non-collinear, non-coplanar, helical, skyrmions, etc) and the possible coexistence of magnetic order with exotic phenomena, such as ferroelectricity, charge-order, k-dependent spin-splitting in the electronic structure of the compounds of interest.
The coexistence of multiple orders enhances the multifunctional capabilities of materials, enabling, for instance, the manipulation of spin degrees of freedom through the application of an electric field, one of the grand-challenges in spintronics.
Prof. Silvia Picozzi
Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDs) are a versatile class of materials with immense potential for fields of application, from nanoelectronics and optics to sensing and catalysis. TMDs are inherently imperfect, containing defects such as vacancies and boundaries that significantly impact on their properties. Defects are often considered detrimental due to their negative effects on some materials’ properties like mechanical and chemical stability, or alterations in electrical transport.
The book 200 Years of Themoelectricity (1821-2021) has just been published by Springer, celebrating, albeit a bit late, the bicentennial of the discovery of thermoelectricity. This volume republishes around thirty works that have shaped the history of thermoelectricity over these two centuries, along with three essays on the historical and scientific development of the discipline.
An international research collaboration conducted jointly by the Istituto Officina dei Materiali (CNR-IOM) of the National Research Council in Trieste, the University of Trieste, and the Department of Materials Science of the University of Milano-Bicocca, together with the University of Vienna, has demonstrated a simple and innovative method to create a new category of materials.
Il Piano Triennale Dipartimentale (PTD) presenta le linee strategiche per la didattica, la ricerca e la terza missione/impatto sociale del Dipartimento di Scienza dei Materiali definite in coerenza e in attuazione della pianificazione strategica di Ateneo. Nel PTD sono inoltre definiti il monitoraggio ed il riesame delle attività di didattica, ricerca e terza missione, la definizione dei criteri di distribuzione delle risorse, la dotazione di personale, le strutture ed i servizi di supporto alla didattica, alla ricerca e alla terza missione.
In questa sezione è pubblicato il PTD relativo al triennio accademico 2023-2025 e rispetto alle seguenti sezioni:
1. "Definizione delle linee strategiche per la didattica, la ricerca e la terza missione/impatto sociale"
3. "Definizione dei criteri di distribuzione delle risorse"
4. "Dotazione di personale, strutture e servizi di supporto alla didattica, alla ricerca e alla terza missione"
Congiuntamente alla stesura del PTD, sono pianificate annuali azioni di monitoraggio e analisi dei risultati, che sono raccolte nel documento di Monitoraggio del Piano Triennale Dipartimentale.